Marco Silva says Adama Traore and Tosin Adarabioyo could return in time to be named in the squad for the visit of Manchester United on Saturday.
Traore and Adarabioyo have been sidelined for extended periods due to injury issues. Fulham also have Kenny Tete out due to a groin problem, and he is nearing a return as his recovery enters its final stages.
United beat Fulham three times last season — twice in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup — and the West London club will hope to avenge those defeats at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
“Last steps for the recovery for Kenny Tete plus Tosin [Adarabioyo] and Adama [Traore] are already working with the team”, Silva said. “I’m going to take a decision if one or two of them will be ready to be involved one the squad list. Issa Diop is going to take more time.”
Diop injured his foot in the win over Sheffield United on October 7, and has not featured since.
Rodrigo Muniz scored his first goal in over a year in the Carabao Cup win over Ipswich Town on Wednesday, and is pushing for a start ahead of strikers Carlos Vinicius and Raul Jimenez, neither of whom have scored from Premier League starts this season.
“A selection headache? 100 per cent sure”, Silva said about Muniz. “Not just after Wednesday, but the impact he made against Brighton in that second half. What we are analysing in training every single day he is doing very well.
“I’m going to decide what is going to be the best striker from the game regarding the plan. Right now we have three. I have to say and to be fair with them, the competition has been hard. It’s up to them to do their maximum and up to me to decide.”
Summer signing Raul Jimenez has not scored since March 2022, and Silva admitted his goal drought is down to a lack of “mental confidence.”
Fulham host on Saturday a Manchester United team currently eighth in the Premier League and who come into the match on the back of 3-0 defeats to rivals Manchester City in the league and a defeat of the same score-line at the hands of much-changed Newcastle United in a midweek Carabao Cup tie.
“We know their form, but they are Man United”, Silva asserted. “If you think any situation is going to be easy, that’s going to be the first mistake. In the three [games against them last season] we were the better team on the pitch, but we lost the three. If you ask me would I like us to perform in the same way, I would love it. But we would like to write a different story this season.”
Pressure is mounting on United head coach Erik ten Hag to deliver tangible rewards with the Red Devils, and Silva lamented the lack of time managers are afforded these days before clubs tend to change tack.
“When you are in a bigger club, the pressure is bigger. He knows how to handle the situation. Time is important for all managers, not just in big clubs.
“They like time to build, to create his own story, the model, to deliver something that recognises how he’s managed to be there. But we all know that the results speak louder.”
